Moving to Hove - advice/help/wisdom greatly appreciated

[Elski]

Hi all,

My family and I are soon to be moving to Hove (Poets Corner). We've spent a couple of years researching everything and figuring out how to make it work and finally it seems like the best time to do it is now! Our DD is due to start school in September 2014 (she'll be 4 in December) and DS is only 9 months old so it seems like the least disruptive time.

Now it's crunch time though, I'm starting to get really scared. We have a great network of family and friends here (SE London) and DD, who used to be a shy wallflower, has really come out of herself recently and has started to make some fab little friends. I'm suddenly getting the fear about us being lonely and isolated as we don't know anybody down there really.

From what I've seen on our many visits, Hove is friendly and very community-spirited, which is one of the things I love about it. Can anyone recommend some nice, friendly groups to take DD and DS to (not necessarily at the same time) so that they can start making some friends? Any thoughts on the best way to meet people so that i can maybe make a friend or two myself?

Grateful for any suggestion - cheers in advance!

Hi Elski. I just posted on another similar thread but we moved down from SE London 6 months ago with our now 10mo and are now living in Poets Corner. It's very nice (another mum on here runs a book group btw which I've joined so if you're interested in that then let me know as I'm sure she'd be happy to have new members). But as with anywhere you go, it does take time to meet people - I definitely miss my London friends a lot but will be going back to work in London later in the year so have not cut all ties. Groups that I like are: The ones I like are: mum and baby group every Tuesday morning at 11.30 at the Conway Court Children's Centre; Weds morning 10am a nice playgroup for preschool and toddlers at Holy Cross church on corner of Stoneham Park; and at Hove Methodist Church on Portland Rd there's Little Pickle Music Makers on Weds and Thurs mornings and Fri pm 2-4 they have Polka Tots playgroup.

If you are thinking of trying any of these and / or just want a friendly face when you move then feel free to PM me. Good luck with the move! x

Hi Elski,

I'm not sure about groups in Hove though ababy seems to have covered it well!

For you to meet people I'd suggest the local meet ups, they're great fun :) Next one in December I think. Also meetup.com, it's been a lifesaver for me. I run climbing sessions through it and there are loads of good, local, active groups on there depending on your interests!

Thanks Nikadi, that's great! I've just checked out meetup.com, what a gem, I never even knew it existed! I'll definitely be giving that a try and I'll also check out the local meetup too, December should work quite well as we're moving down next month x

There are a couple of us locals starting the WI in November, there is a really funky group based in Brighton centre which meets once a month on a Monday night, you're welcome to join us :)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/meetups/1867706-Brighton-December-Christmas-meet

Link the Christmas meet, we don't bite :)

& to take advantage of the opportunity: if you need a babysitter or anything give me a shout ;) I'm a nanny and am looking for new ad-hoc childcare and babysitting clients :)

Defo up for WI!

Cheers for the link - I couldn't see anything listed in the meetups section!

I'll PM you about childcare - pick your brains about something nanny/childcare-related :) x

That's fine :) You can email me if you prefer too, happy to have my brains picked :)

Appreciate this is a bit old now but we moved down to poets corner from London a couple of years ago and love it. We live near the stoneham park and there is a real sense of community, we have made a few friends just from being in the park so much!

Several great groups are mentioned up thread and you are really spoilt for choice around here. We go to the Wednesday one mentioned at 10 which we really like.

I have a 8 month old and 3 year old so PM me if you do move down and would like to meet :)

I really like the YMCA toddler gym on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings (term time) 9:30am - 12pm.
It is great when the weather is not that good and my daugher always tires herself out nicely :-). I tend to see a lot of familiar faces there too so if you wanted to meet other mums it is easy to start chatting.

Where:

Sussex Central YMCA
17 Marmion Road, Hove
BN3 5FS

Age: up to 4 yrs

What you get:

Slides
Bouncy Castle
Tunnels
Climbers
Ball Pool
Push Toys, Cars,
Etc
Free Tea, Coffee and Biscuits

How Much: £3 per family